"Double phoenix" lobed box and cover
Not on view
This elaborate box was produced in the Qing imperial workshops at the height of their extraordinary creativity. Its cover, meticulously carved with a pair of phoenixes among stylized clouds, exemplifies the highest standard of craftsmanship from the mid-eighteenth century—a golden age of Chinese lapidary work. Its pattern and form represent an archaistic reinterpretation of gold and silver designs of the Tang dynasty (618–907). The “double phoenix” design also became a very popular motif on imperial Qing artworks in porcelain, jade, glass, metalwork, and many other media.
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